Six months on...
by Sethoz
Summary: Six months on Buffy and co deal...*finished*


This is a story I wrote 11th March. I have just re-found it. It is about the September attack. It was written to try and express how I feel.  
When you are reading this please think of the people who gave there lives in the twin tower bombing.  
Thank you.  
Six Months On.  
  
September 11th 2001  
  
"Take that!" with a fluent punch Buffy Summers sent her opponent flying. She jumped over to the fallen enemy with ease and raised her stack ready for the kill.  
"Wow... Buffy I give up! I give up already!"  
"Oh... sorry Xander, I guess I forgot I was fighting you." Buffy said with a sheepish grin. Xander sighed and held out his hand.  
"It's okay... could you help me up for some strange reason I seem unable to move."  
"Buffy... Xander, could you come in here a moment?" Giles called from the other room. Buffy ran towards his voice, concerned by the funny tone in his voice.  
//Almost as if he has a frog in it... Drawn! Is she okay?\\   
As Buffy entered the shop part of the Magic Box, she saw Willow, Tara and Drawn sitting down on the ground. Willow was staring off into space and Drawn was quietly sobbing into Tara's lap. Buffy stood in the middle of the shop and stared. At that moment Zander followed her in.  
"So what's the big emergency G-man? Evil vamps? Demons? What the..." Zander slowly trailed off as he witnessed the scene in front of him. Anya turned from the tiny television screen she was watching and ran towards Zander. Silently she wrapper her arms around his waist and sobbed, letting hot salty tears fall. Buffy looked around and saw Giles watching the television. His body blocked it so she had no idea what was going on.  
"Giles?" Giles slowly turned around and Buffy was horrified at his haggled appearance. She took a step towards him.  
"Giles what is it? Share." Giles slowly looked at her, a haunted look in his eyes.  
"Buffy... someone flew a plane into the twin towers."  
"Someone... flew a plane into the twin towers?" As Giles sadly nodded there was a horrified shout from the T.V. Buffy rushed to it, in time to see a second plane hit the towers. There was a horrified gasp as Buffy tried to understand what was going on. She looked at Giles and tried to speak.  
"What... what's going on?" Giles took off his glasses and began to absently clean them. Buffy was shocked to see that they were red and puffy, implying he had been crying.  
"I don't... I don't know Buffy. I don't have any answers. At first we all thought that it was an accident... but now... now we think it... could be terrorists." Buffy stared numbly at the television then slowly sank to the floor.   
"Buffy?" Buffy looked up at Giles and opened her month however no words came out. She shut it and closed her eyes. Blinking back tears she swallowed and tried to speck again.  
"Someone... someone with a soul did this?" before Giles could answer her a cold hand rested on her shoulder.  
"Makes you wonder what the true evil is in this day and age." Buffy's eyes followed the arm which was attached to the hand to be confronted by Spike peering at her. Buffy glared angrily at him. She was about to jump up and steak him there and then, when she saw that unbelievably his eyes were red. Sensing that Buffy no longer had any immediate plans to dust him Spike sat down beside her.  
" I've seen a lot of evil in my time. Been responsible for it most of the time too... but I have never seen anything like this. I mean I have seen revolutions, natural disasters and the like but this... this is fighting dirtily."  
With out a word they watched in a stunned silence as the two towers began to crumble. There was a gasp from Drawn as they finely fell... the symbols of freedom in the Western world gone in a matter of hours. Giles stood up and turned to look at the teenagers. They all continued to stare at the place where the towers used to stand. All that was there now was twisted metal and the sobs of the people staring at it.   
The whole thing had a dream like quality to it. The hushed silence, people wandering looking for there loved ones, complete strangers hugging in front of the war zone. In his shop there was a shell shocked silence, then Anya lifted her head from Zander and peered at Giles though tear stained eyes.  
"I don't understand."  
"What don't you understand?"   
"Well... how is this possible?" Giles looked at her pity in his eyes.  
"This is how the world is."  
"Well that's stupid." Anya glared at Giles. "I hate this world!" Thought Anya's outburst Buffy had simply sat on the floor staring into space. With a small shake of her head she began to stand on her shake legs.  
"I have saved the whole on a number of occasions." she began quietly. "I've seen Hell beasts, been to a hellish dimension. All this makes me wonder..."  
"Makes you wonder what Buffy?" Giles asked her softly.  
"Makes me wonder why I bother to try and save this world when all it takes is a few humans and a death wish.  
"Buffy, you can't mean that." Willow said her bright eye's looking at her.  
"I'm starting to think maybe I do." At that moment Giles' phone began to ring. It sounded harsh and unnatural amidst the chaos on the T.V. Giles walked over and slowly picked up the black phone.  
"Hello? Yes she is... right... okay I'll get her." Giles put the phone down and began to thread his way though the curled up children. He bent over Willow and slowly began to give her a gentle shake.  
"Willow? You're mother's on the phone." Willow looked at Giles not understanding. Giles tried again. "Willow... phone for you."   
"Oh? Right phone... what's that again?" Giles looked at Willow and bent down.  
"Willow... phone... you pick up this part and someone specks down and you can talk back down the tube." Willow nodded  
"Right... I can do this." She stood up and promptly fell down again. "I can't do this." Giles helped her up.  
"You CAN do this." Willow nodded and slowly picked up the phone.   
"Mom?... yes I heard... Um yeah... I love you too, mum." Willow put the phone down, a slightly bemused expression on her face.  
"Mom wanted to tell me she loves me. I already knew that she does."  
"I think she was watching the T.V." Giles said. Willow nodded.  
"It made her think...." Drawn crawled over to where Spike and Buffy sat, and curled up on the other side of Spike. She buried her head in his black leather jacket and began to sob, the most heart wrenching sobs ever. Spike looked at Buffy.  
"Pet, the little girl needs to go home." Buffy looked at him.  
"I don't think I could move right now." she muttered. Spike glared at her.  
"Look Drawn is in NO state to go home on her own."   
"She could stay here until we all go home." Buffy argued. Spike sighed and shook his head.  
"She needs her family, in her home, right now. Do it for Drawn." Buffy looked at her little sister and nodded. She turned to Spike and looked at him with wide eyes.  
"Look... could you help us get home? I don't think I could deal with any other vamps tonight." Spike nodded and pulled Drawn to her feet.  
"Up we come, let's get you home." Spike held on to Drawn with one hand and Buffy, the other. He began to carefully guided them across the floor, towards the shop door and home. Giles looked at Willow and gave a soft cough.  
"Ummmm... Willow maybe you should spend some time with you're family as well. Xander you too." Xander looked at Giles.  
"Are you kidding, my family don't care about me." He said with the tiniest hint of bitterness. Giles looked at Xander.  
"I think they will want to see you."  
"I want to stay with Anya, she's my family." Anya looked at him, though teary eyes.  
"Xander, I'll come too. You should spend time with that collection of humans called you're family." Xander looked at Anya.  
"You're right, every one should be with there family, today all all days. We have to stick together and maybe it will show my family how important we all are." Giles turned to Willow.  
"What about you?" Willow looked at Tara.  
"Me and Tara are going to stop by my mom's then go home. That is if it's all right with you Tara?" Tara nodded.  
"I um, think it's important to spend time with the people you love. Why don't you go to you're mom's and I'll meet you at home. I mean, um, I don't want to get in the way." Willow looked at Tara.  
"Tara you won't be in the way. I want to be with the people I love and that includes you." The group which had saved the world so many times all left the shop leaving Giles standing by himself. He walked over and turned the 'come in, we are open!' to 'sorry, we're closed.' He left the shop and locked the door. With a sigh he turned to go to his home, alone, for he had no one to go to. As he turned he spun right into Buffy.  
"Good lord, Buffy! You gave me a shock." Buffy gave him a sweet, sad smile.  
"No one should be alone, Giles. Come over to our house for a while. We have to stick together."  
  
Six months later...  
  
March 11th 2002  
  
Buffy lay on Giles couch and stared at the white ceiling. It was slightly dirty and there was a blackish patch in one corner. She stared at it hoping to drive away all her thoughts about this day.  
"Ahh, Buffy, good to see you. Well done for that work last night, I'm certain you saved the world... again."  
"Yeah, some world I saved." she muttered to the blackish patch above her. Funny but it was beginning to look like a head. Giles looked at her.  
"Sorry?" Buffy turned her head towards Giles.  
"Nothing." She turned back and resumed her intense study of the ceiling.   
"Anyway, I think that we should be very proud of what you did Buffy. You saved the whole world. At this Buffy erupted.  
"I saved the world! Big deal! What a brilliant world I saved!" She jumped up and began to pace up and down.  
"Look, Buffy I know how upset you are." She turned on him, her eye's blazing.  
"No, you don't! You have no idea why I'm upset!" Giles looked at her, his mouth open not saying a word.   
"Is it to do with what happened last night." Buffy pointed at him  
"You see! You have no idea!"   
"Well, why don't you tell me?" Buffy flopped down all her anger suddenly disappearing. When she finally spoke, her voice was little more than a whisper.  
"It happened six months ago."   
"What happened six... oh" he suddenly stopped as the answer hit him like a ton of bricks.  
"There was this girl... a week or so ago. I saved her form a big vamp." Buffy's head was lowed and her voice was muffled. "She... she called me a hero." Buffy's voice had sunk below a whisper and Giles had to strain his ears to hear her broken tone. "But, I'm no hero." Giles looked at her, not knowing what to say.  
"You are a hero Buffy, you have saved countless lives." Buffy gave a hollow laugh  
"I'm the slayer, Giles. This is my destiny."  
"I don't understand what you mean Buffy."   
"I didn't chose this. It chose me. The true hero's are the people who CHOESE to do this. The firemen, who volunteered to run into the towers knowing that it wasn't very likely that they would come out."   
"Buffy..." Giles trailed off, having no idea what to say. Buffy lifted her head and Giles could see her eye's were bight and shiny. She held his gaze for a second then resumed her study of his ceiling. With a small sigh Giles moved over to where Buffy lay and took her un-protesting hands in his.  
"Buffy, I know it's hard, but you can't give up. The people who did that terrible thing will be caught." This was the wrong thing to say as Buffy jumped up and began to pace again.  
"There will be punished! Who will be punished Giles? It has been six months and there has not been a confirmed sighting of Bin Larden. The only people who have been punished are the innocent people who have the misfortune of living where we drop a bomb!" She paused and ran her fingers though her hair.   
"Hey Giles! Have you seen Buf... oh here she is." Spike muttered as he stormed in. He took one look at Buffy, saw the mood she was in and began to back away.  
"What do you want Spike?" Buffy asked her anger building. Spike looked at her.  
"It's nothing Buffy... I'll just go now." with that he turned and picked up the blanket he used to move in the day time and made a run for it. Buffy stared after him, confused.  
"Huh?"  
"I believe you scared Spike, Buffy" Giles said dryly.  
"Good." She sat down and let her head fall into her hands. "God, Giles it just... I couldn't save them. I'm the slyer, that's what I do and those people needed someone like me and I couldn't stop it."   
"Buffy, you are not the only force of good in this world. There are many forces at work, beside the will of evil. What happened, happened but thanks to the braveness of people lives were saved."   
""I know... it's just what is our answer to what happened on September 11th? I'll tell you. We blow up people and kill them." She wiggled her shoulders and went on. "I can't help but feel that in all this mass panic, Mr. President has forgotten the real reason we are fighting this war." She picked up her bag and pulled out a photo. It was of the twin towers, people milling about. Buffy and Drawn were standing in front of them. Drawn was doing bunny ears behind Buffy. There were laughing and joking about.  
"We are fighting this war for THEM, the people who lost there lives in the towers. The people who's only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Giles reached out and plucked the photo from Buffy's fingers.  
"I remember when you went there. Drawn was so excited about it. She was looking forward to it and you were looking forward to some..."  
"... time as a normal girl? But I'm not Giles." her voice became thick with tears as she carried on. "I'm not a normal girl. That day showed me that, it showed me what I am."   
"And that is?" Giles asked softly, wondering what her answer would be.  
"I'm the slyer. I'm a force of good in a evil world. But is this world... is it worth saving?" She turned and grabbed hold of Giles arm.  
"I need to know that this is what I should be doing. I need to know... I just do." Giles nodded.  
"I didn't know then Buffy... and I don't know now."  
"But why do we do it? What's the point?"  
"The point Buffy? We do what we can because that's who we are. We are human, we can't stop the evil forever. We will never win. All we can do is stop what we can. The evil will come, we can't stop that... but..." Buffy looked at Giles, a tiny speck of hope in her eyes.  
"We will never surrender." Buffy and Giles both turned to see Spike standing there. He held in his hand a single blood red rose. "That's want they said." He carefully placed the rose on Giles table. "For the innocents of that day."   
"What do you care?" Spike looked surprised and hurt.  
"What do I care? They were brave and... hell! Just forget it okay!" Buffy ran forward and placed her hand on Spikes shoulder.  
"Spike..."  
"It's just... I know I'm a monster, I don't kid myself that I am anything more... but I saw you that day Buffy... I know what happened. At least we demons have an excuse. We were made evil. You... you weren't. Humans weren't supposed to be evil but you are." Buffy looked at him, the haunted look in her eyes had returned .  
"So?"  
"So, humans can change, we can't we are evil, end of story. We don't have dreams of the people we have killed."  
"Mr. Bush won't have dreams about them... to him, they are just nameless figures, a number on a tally." Spike gently put his arm on Buffy and guided her back to the sofa. He placed her on it and turned to Giles.  
"I don't suppose you have any brandy? To help Buffy I mean."  
"Oh? Yes I think I do." Giles looked around and picked up an dusty bottle of brandy. He passed it to Spike, who promptly took a swig of it.  
"Hey!"  
"what? Oh right." Spike carefully poured a little bit into Buffy's mouth. She smiled and looked at Giles.  
"Spike... don't you have things to do?" Giles asked. Spike looked up.  
"What? Not really... oh right, yes I have to go and... see a man about some food." He walked towards the door. He paused by the desk and stared at the red rose. With a grunt he walked past, leaving it.  
"Buffy, you haven't cried."  
"What?"  
"After that... day, you never cried. You just bottled it up so that it comes out as anger."  
"You think I'm angry!" Buffy yelled. She stopped as she realized what she had done. She walked over to Giles desk. Her eyes fell on the single rose left there.  
//You're a hero Buffy... For the innocents of that day... I'm not the hero... For the innocents of that day... that day... day...\\ Buffy began to sob, heart wrenching sobs. Giles held out his hands and hugged Buffy.  
"It's okay... let it all out..." Giles soothed. Buffy held on to Giles jacket and cried even harder.  
"It just isn't fair."  
"Life isn't fair Buffy. That doesn't mean we should just give up." Buffy slowly nodded. She bent down and picked up the photo of her and Drawn, which had fallen to the floor. She smiled at it and placed it next to the rose. With a soft sigh she looked at Giles.  
"Thank you."  
"For what?"  
"For giving me hope, for showing me that there is still good in this world. Thank you for proving to me that the terrorists haven't won and that they will never win." Giles smiled.  
"That's what I'm here for Buffy." Buffy picked up the photo and left. A second later Spike entered.  
"Is she all-right?" Spike asked. Giles watched the retreating figure that was Buffy Summers and smiled.  
"She will be fine, in time."  
"Good. Are you all right?" Spike asked staring at Giles who nodded.  
"Now that Buffy is all right, I know I will be all right." Spike looked at Giles and sighed.  
"That means it will be business as usual?"  
"It will never be the same again, Spike. But we will deal with what ever happens. Six months on."  
  
THE END.  
  
  
Thank you for reading this... a moments silence for the victims of September the 11 as the first anniversary draws near.  
  
God Bless America. 


End file.
